Hachijū Hachiya

If you’re a fan of shincha, you may have heard the term hachijū hachiya (八十八夜). It literally means 88th night. Hachijū hachiya is one of the important dates in...

my japanese green tea podcast

Podcast 054: Tezumi

While I have reviewed teas from Tezumi before, I didn’t know much about them. In this episode I interview David Lavecchia, who is one of the three co-founders. David...

Kintsuba

Kintsuba (きんつば) is a traditional Japanese sweet (wagashi) that is fairly common, although not as popular as others. In essence, it’s a yōkan with an outer crust. Nowadays, most...

Tezumi Koushun Bihakkocha

This tea sold by Tezumi is a lightly oxidized oolong made with the Koushun cultivar. It comes from the Honyama region of Shizuoka prefecture. Since this cultivar’s strong point...

Kirari 31

The Kirari 31 Tea Cultivar

Kirari 31 (きらり31) is a cultivar that not only makes a high quality sencha, but also kabusecha and gyokuro. Kirari means “momentary flash of light”. The number 31 is...

Sencha vs Kabusecha

Kabusecha means “shaded tea”. This shading process is also employed for teas like gyokuro and matcha. Traditionally, sencha isn’t shaded. Note that after harvesting, sencha, kabusecha and gyokuro are...

Ikkyu Satori

This gyokuro is very interesting because it is a blend of three cultivars: Yabukita, Yamakai, and Gokou. Furthermore, it’s made in Yame using a traditional method. I’m happy to...

Ichoucha

Ichoucha (萎凋茶) is a Japanese tea that has been withered. Withering is called ichou in Japanese. Another word also used for withering tea is bihakkou (微発酵). For example, ichou...

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